WBS PENGUINS NOTEBOOK

WILKES-BARRE - Last Friday, Trevor Smith did everything he could to beat the Syracuse Crunch.

He succeeded, too, scoring a pair of goals in a 5-3 victory for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Three days later, he gathered with many of those same Crunch players and shared a few laughs as members of last year's Norfolk Admirals team got together to receive their Calder Cup championship rings Monday night in Syracuse.

It's a funny business, pro hockey.

"It is a little weird, but it's all business on the ice," Smith said. "After the game or off the ice, you can still reminisce about it a little bit. But not too much. It's a new year."

The Tampa Bay organization flew in several members of the title team for the celebration. Players who have moved on to nearby teams like Smith, Toronto's Mike Kostka and Connecticut's Brandon Segal made the drive.

The only two players who didn't make it were forward Alexandre Picard and goalie Jaroslav Janus, who are playing in Europe.

"It was fun. They did a really good job, the Tampa organization," Smith said. "It was nice to get back together and hand out the rings and have one more time together."

Lockout talk

While NHL labor talks the last few days have created optimism the season might be saved, Penguins coach John Hynes has been planning for that eventuality for months.

Every time the NHL announced a date through which games had been canceled, Hynes began to mentally prepare as though the league would begin play the next day.

For example, when the NHL said Nov. 23 that games were canceled through Dec. 13, he began to plan for a Dec. 14 start.

"We've followed it because it's our responsibility to do so, but we have always planned that there's going to be an NHL," Hynes said.

Frankly, the Penguins should be better off than some teams if the lockout ends. Their personnel losses will be significant - winger Eric Tangradi and a couple of defensemen are likely to stick in Pittsburgh - but they have better depth to deal with the exodus than many teams.

Injury report

Wingers Tom Kuhnhackl and Keven Veilleux did not practice Thursday due to injury.

Hynes said Kuhnhackl will be out "for a while" with an upper-body injury. Kuhnhackl missed time last year with a knee injury and three years ago with shoulder problems, but Hynes said his current situation is not related to those.

Veilleux, who continues to recover from knee surgery that sidelined him last season, is expected to miss about two weeks.

Contact the writer: jbombulie@citizensvoice.com

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